The Hubble Space Telescope is a hard act to follow. Since it was launched in 1990, the telescope has become one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy, making critical discoveries that have vastly enriched our understanding of the cosmos. John Mather is only too aware of this legacy. He is senior project scientist on Hubble's designated successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Dr Mather, 60, has been involved with JWST from the start and is busy directing construction of it at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He is also a Nobel Laureate - Nasa's first. Mather shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with George Smoot for their work on the Cosmic Background Explorer (Cobe) satellite. Cobe detected subtle temperature variations in the cosmic microwave background radiation - the "afterglow of the Big Bang". ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Russia has agreed to slash duty it will charge Belarus for crude oil, ending a damaging row between the two states. Belarus will now pay $53 a tonne for oil it imports, instead of the $180 Russia had previously demanded, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said. It will also share with Russia profits from the refined oil products it exports to other countries. Disputes between the two states led to Russia halting the flow of oil through Belarus to elsewhere in Europe. The agreement came after about 10 hours of negotiations between Mr Fradkov and his Belarussian counterpart, Sergei Sidorsky. The presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, also held talks. Officials from the two countries reached "a balanced solution, corresponding to the interests of both countries", Mr Fradkov said in televised comments, adding that the talks had been "hard"....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6257745.stm

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of the ruling Palestinian movement Hamas has urged national unity after weeks of deadly feuding. He went on TV to say that Palestinian infighting, which has claimed about 30 lives, was utterly unacceptable. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the rival Fatah party, made a similar appeal two days ago. Meanwhile, government workers called off a strike over unpaid wages, saying they had been assured of payment. Mr Haniya called on the Arab League to implement its promise to break the Western- and Israeli-led economic embargo, which has prevented the government from paying its employees' wages. The two men's speeches come after a savage war of words between Hamas and Fatah, BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston says. Mr Haniya again and again called for national unity and talked of the need to renew the effort to form a new government that would draw Hamas and Fatah into a coalition....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6258835.stm

Somalia's parliament has voted to declare three months of martial law after the rout of Islamist forces. MPs sitting in the provincial town of Baidoa voted 154 to two to ratify Prime Minister Ali Mohamad Ghedi's plan to restore order in the war-ravaged state. The government regained control after a campaign led by Ethiopian troops which also saw US air attacks on militants. Meanwhile, nine people have died in clashes between rival clans in a town in central Somalia. Residents say at least nine people were killed in the settlement of Biyo-Adde when fighting broke out in a local market. The transitional government says it has sent police from its headquarters in nearby Jowhar. Correspondents say the government is trying to assert its authority over clan disputes and re-emerging local warlords two weeks after the Union of Islamic Courts militia was ousted from central and southern Somalia. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6258415.stm

Several people are feared missing in Brazil's city of Sao Paulo after a hole being dug for a new subway station collapsed leaving an enormous crater. Emergency services are trying to reach passengers from a minibus that fell into the 30m (100ft) deep hole in the city's central district of Pinheiros. Six vehicles have been recovered and rescuers are searching for the minibus. A truck driver is also missing. The landslide occurred at 1500 local time on Friday. An inquiry has begun. Conflicting eyewitness reports cite an explosion before the landslide, others say the subway structure simply gave way. Paulo Roberto dos Santos, vice president of Transcooper, the company that owns the minibus, told local media they were trying to locate the vehicle by satellite, mobile phone and radio. It is thought that the driver, ticket collector and four to six passengers were on board at the time of the landslide. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6258379.stm

A look at the major players in the perjury and obstruction trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney: DEFENDANT Libby once was among the most trusted officials at the White House. He was Cheney's chief of staff and an adviser to President Bush. Today, Libby is one of the highest-ranking White House official indicted since the Watergate scandal. He faces charges of perjury and obstruction for allegedly lying to FBI agents and a federal grand jury in the CIA leak investigation. Libby, 56, was known as "Cheney's Cheney." Just as Bush has Cheney as his most trusted behind-the-scenes adviser and problem-solver, Cheney had Libby. The two men became acquainted at the Pentagon when Cheney was defense secretary under the first President Bush. By 2000, Libby was working as a top adviser to Cheney in the presidential campaign, then followed him to the White House. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2792847